Carrie Mae Weem Mirror,
Mirror in the series of Aunt joking during
1987-88. This image series stood out to me the most because many of them
are stereotypes of black people that still stand today. The photo that
resonates with me the most is this one:
Its caption is : LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR, THE BLACK WOMAN ASKED,
"MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO'S THE FINEST OF THEM ALL?"
THE MIRROR SAYS, "SNOW WHITE, YOU BLACK BITCH,
AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!!!"
One of the two biggest issues
that this photo challenges are representation of black women in the media. In the
movie, Snow White, is representing the beautiful white woman with the fair skin
to be the most beautiful in the land. By doing so the movie indirectly implies that those who are not fair
skinned are not deemed fine or beautiful. By quoting from the movie snow white,
Weem is bringing the lack of black women
being properly represented in media to life in the photo it forces one to acknowledge
the second issue. This issue is that women of color are not represented as
beautiful. These show that black women in particular, are not credited for their
contribution to society’s beauty standards, even today. We are undervalued
within the world generally despite our culture being appropriated. This lack of
representation causes little black girls to struggle with their self-image and self-love.
This photo brings the question to mind, how can we raise young women of color
to love themselves for who they were created to be without images that look like
them starting from young age?
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